Chapter 180 - Establishing Dragon Oak

The young Red Copper Dragon was fearless, like a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger, completely ignorant of the dangers of teleportation. Especially since the gate had just been built, it dived headfirst into the green curtain of the archway.Within three seconds, its head emerged from the green curtain, and it exclaimed excitedly, "It worked, it really worked! Another archway of roots has appeared over here. Heh heh, I’ve changed my mind, the Dragon’s Nest won’t be built at Eagle Cliff, I want to build it here, under the Dragon Scale Oak."

The whimsical thoughts of Aivensa caught Gaven somewhat by surprise, but he nodded and said, "That’s fine, but there’s one thing we need to agree on, the construction so far will still be charged, as this is a change made on your own initiative."

"Charge as you like, at worst, I’ll just make two Dragon’s Nests," said Aivensa, who was in a state of excitement and unusually generous for a moment.

After all, she was still too fond of the singing platform at Eagle Cliff to give it up.

But with this teleportation gate, living on both sides made no difference.

"Today, I’m a bit tired, we’ll talk about the rest later," said Lord Virginia, her clear eyes revealing an undeniable weariness that added a delicate vulnerability to her beautiful face.

Channeling the power of the Fairy Wilderness into the Material Plane had taken a great toll on her.

"Alright," Gaven nodded, agreeably acquiescing.

In fact, even if Virginia hadn’t brought it up, he would have suggested it himself.

He had gained so much from the Fairy Wilderness that he had to take time to digest it thoroughly and adjust his strategic deployments.

"I’ll take you back," said the young Red Copper Dragon, emerging from the portal and volunteering eagerly.

"No need, I brought a Teleportation Scroll with me when I came back to Spring Bud Fortress," said Lord Virginia as she drew a Magic Scroll and shook it at the well-meaning young dragon, "Stelina, from now on, you are Lord Gaven’s personal guard, responsible for his personal safety."

"As you command," Stelina bowed in assent.

"Goodbye," said Lord Virginia as she activated the Teleportation Spell and disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving cleanly and efficiently.

Gaven, noticing something unusual, looked at Stelina with concern and said, "Lord, there won’t be any problem, will there? Her complexion seemed a bit off."

"Not just ’a bit off,’" Stelina regarded Gaven with an unusual look and said, "Lord, you really are valued highly by her, to the point where she used the primal power of the wilderness from the Spring Bud Forest. Even in the Fairy Wilderness, that would be a heavy burden, let alone on the Material Plane. After returning to Spring Bud Fortress, she will need to hibernate for at least ten days."

"Ah..." Gaven was taken aback.

Previously, he had thought that most of the power came from the Dragon Scale Oak and that Virginia was merely assisting from the side because she had downplayed it.

Seemingly reading Gaven’s mind, Stelina huffed coldly, "This is a doorway straight to the Fairy Wilderness. If it were really that easy to construct, such portals would be everywhere by now. I hope you make good use of this door and don’t let down the Lord’s efforts."

"Thank you for the pointer, General. In the future, please let me know in advance about such matters so I can make more thorough preparations," Gaven felt a bit fortunate; he was glad he hadn’t insisted on discussing other issues with Lord Virginia just now, or else Stelina would have given him an earful.

"You’re thinking there will be a next time?" Stelina said with an expression that suggested Gaven was wishing for too much.

Gaven laughed it off, "I meant similar matters. After all, my knowledge of the Fairy Wilderness is limited. By the way, I also need to inform Captain Bark to slow down the suspension work a bit; we can use land transport now."

In fact, the Carrier Bug no longer needed to be transported back; it could be sent directly to the Ancient Dragon’s Nest.

"I’ll go inform them," offered Susie, volunteering for the task.

Gaven glanced at Susie’s dragon wings and nodded, "Alright, let Captain Bark finish deploying the tasks, and then come back together. I want to hold a full upper echelon meeting." Follow current novᴇls on ɴo(v)elFɪre.ɴet

"As you command," Susie bowed in response, then, with a flap of her wings, dove into the portal.

The young Red Copper Dragon, no longer thrilled by the novelty, crawled out of the portal again and said, "Gaven, we should name this tree."

"Sure, what do you think it should be called?"

"How about Dragon Oak?"

"I remember the one in Spring Bud Forest is called Dragon Oak."

"That’s easy, from now on that one will be known as the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, and this one will be called Dragon Oak, and the portal the Dragon Oak Portal."

"Simple and clear, I think that works. Let’s settle on that," Gaven decided on the spot, continuing, "In the future, our Gnoll Tribe will be known collectively as the Dragon Oak Gnolls, right? We are planning to worship the Dragon Oak Mother Tree as the sacred tree, which couldn’t be more appropriate."

You could say that Gaven wasn’t very good at naming things, or that he didn’t put much emphasis on it; either way, he didn’t mind much, and up until now, the different Gnoll Tribes had continued to use their original names. But as the tribes under his rule grew, they needed a unified designation.

"Mhm, mhm, that’s a good idea, from now on, I am the Guardian of the Mother Tree," Aivensa nodded in agreement.

"Then it’s decided," Gaven confirmed. As long as the young Red Copper Dragon agreed, the Gnolls would have no objections.

The full upper echelon meeting called by Gaven took place under the Dragon Oak at the top of Eagle Cliff, and by the time everyone had gathered, it was already evening.

When all were assembled, Susie and Zack had already shaped a set of stone tables and chairs.

The stone table was a large rectangle, two meters wide and ten meters long, with a total of fourteen seats.

The main seats were located under the Dragon Oak, side by side, which were naturally prepared for Gaven and Aivensa, then arranged on the left and right.

On the left were Susie, Cangya, Zack, Gos, and Hou in that order.

To his right were Xize, Carter, Eric, Bark, and Chester.

Opposite them sat Anna and Vick.

Besides them, there were two others who were not seated.

One was Stelina, who stood behind Gaven, and the other was the Dog Demon Andrew, crouching at Gaven’s feet.

Both were standing due to their special status and did not take a seat.

Gaven had prepared a seat for Stelina, but she refused to accept it and didn’t even plan to attend the meeting, only staying because Gaven had assured her the content of the meeting was not sensitive.

Stelina, somewhat intent on probing Gaven’s secrets, declined twice before relenting.

When she saw the composition of Gaven’s senior staff, Stelina was somewhat surprised; the mix was indeed very diverse.

Humans, Goblins, Half-Ogres, Gnolls, Giant Dragons, Half-Elves—and even among the Gnolls, there were great differences in appearance.

What caught Stelina’s attention the most was Andrew, curled up at Gaven’s feet like a big dog, a cunning and ferocious Devil. Gaven even kept such a creature by his side; wasn’t he afraid of being used and deceived by the Devil?

Lord Virginia was right; there were indeed many secrets hidden about this man.

Obviously, Stelina had forgotten to count herself among these, her unique appearance also caused others to murmur curiously. Being a Half-Dwarven and Half-Yaling hybrid, she was super rare, even more so than the Half-Ogres.

The reputation of Dwarves was not much better than that of Devils, or even worse, because Devils were much rarer in Felen than Dwarves. And wherever the Dwarves roamed, conspiracy, murder, disturbances, and war inevitably followed, earning them a notorious reputation.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Gaven got straight to the point, "Today, I have summoned you all to announce several matters."

"Firstly, given our tribe’s rapid developmental momentum, the traditional Gnoll Tribe division model no longer suits us. I have decided to adopt a human approach to systematically organize and divvy up our tribe. From now on, all our Gnoll Tribes collectively will be known as Dragon Oak, taken from the name of this Dragon Oak behind me. This here is just its projection in the Material Plane, with its true form residing in the Fairy Wilderness, and is revered as the Dragon Oak Mother Tree. It is a Divine Tree nurtured by an Ancient Giant Dragon. From now on, those who contribute exceptionally will have the privilege of making a pilgrimage to the Dragon Oak Mother Tree.

What are your thoughts or opinions on this?"

Chester respectfully said, "This makes a lot of sense, my Lord. You should have done this earlier, and we fully support the decision."

The former Clan Leader of the Eagle Cliff Burrow had no hint of resentment left, only awe and respect.

He was also one of the witnesses to the miracle of the Dragon Oak’s cultivation. However, he didn’t fly up but rather came through a tunnel. He had been leading a Construction Squad in Eagle Cliff, building a Dragon’s Nest for Lord Aivensa.

Naturally, he had witnessed the phantom of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree emerge from Gaven’s body and felt the aura of the Ancient Giant Dragon above.

At that moment, he knew that he was no match for Gaven.

Fealty was the wisest choice for him.

Though his realization was a bit late, there was still a chance for redemption. At least he hadn’t done anything too outrageous and was not excluded from meetings like this one.

With the main dissenter expressing support, the others naturally echoed his sentiments, saying, "We have no objections."

"Very well, let’s proceed," Gaven continued. "The Blackwell Tribe shall be renamed Blackwell Town, with Zack serving as Mayor and Cangya as the Captain of the Guard. You two don’t have any issues with this, do you?"

Zack and Cangya stood up simultaneously and said, "Rest assured, my Lord. We will not fail to meet your expectations."

"I trust you, please be seated," Gaven nodded to them. These were his trusted subordinates, capable and ambitious, growing rapidly, always keeping pace with him. Their loyalty was unquestionable. Entrusting Blackwell Town to their governance should pose no problem, as the model and direction there had already been established. They just needed to follow the set path.

Gaven continued the appointments: "Pitfall Tribe shall be renamed Pitfall Town, with Mayor Susie holding the office of Mayor. You can appoint a Captain of the Guard from within the tribe at your discretion. No problems, right?"

The situation in Pitfall was unique; it was relatively isolated, already a complete tribe with its own administrative system. As long as Susie was well-managed, the entire village could be firmly under control.

Susie’s loyalty was beyond doubt. It was due to her that the first monumental changes in Blackwell occurred.

Now, having started Dragonization and established a close connection with the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, there was even less cause for worry.

"At your command," Susie stood and replied.

"Eagle Cliff Burrow shall be renamed Eagle Cliff Town, with Chester as Mayor, Bark as Captain of the Guard, and Gos taking over Chester’s former duties. Lead the Dragon’s Nest Construction Squad to the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest to build a Dragon’s Nest for Lord Aivensa."

"At your command," the three men stood and replied together. Chester, in particular, could hardly hide his excitement, as this appointment was beyond his expectations.

"The second matter is about the categorization of abilities. Because we recently have acquired several ways to enhance our tribal members, management has become a bit chaotic. I’m now announcing the corresponding standard names and categorization methods.

From now on, any Gnoll that has awakened Spell-Like Abilities will be referred to as Dragon Vein Gnolls, categorized into three levels based on the frequency of their ability use: Lesser, Intermediate, and Advanced.

Gnolls that have taken the Dragon Blood Potion will be known by that distinction, again divided into three levels based on their abilities’ usage frequency. For example, the proper title for Vice Captain Xize, who has undergone Enhancement, is Advanced Red Dragon Blood Erde."

The last kind is Susie’s current condition, which is the blessing from the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, known as Dragonization, and this requires no categorization."

This categorization had been long considered by Gaven.